Bruno Mars fans were left fuming as they found themselves locked out of Los Angeles' $2billion Intuit Dome arena due to a ticket scanner debacle on Thursday night, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Mars' concert — the first of two back-to-back shows — marked the official opening of the brand new indoor arena in Inglewood, California self-financed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
But the night started off with a major hiccup as a technical issue with the Intuit Dome's ticketing system — which relies on impressive facial recognition software — brought entry to a standstill.
Video obtained by DailyMail.com showed thousands of concerned attendees packed tightly outside the 18,000-seat arena.
Many ticket holders also claimed they were having issues transferring their tickets from Ticketmaster to the Intuit app, which is required for entry.
After 40 minutes, employees were eventually able to get the scanners back online and ticketing resumed.
It delayed the concert by nearly an hour as Mars ended up taking the stage at around 9:40pm PST instead of the scheduled 9pm PST start time.
Employees were able to get the system back online but concertgoers faced another disruption when Mars was forced to pause the show due to a medical emergency.
In a video obtained by DailyMail.com, Mars can be seen performing with his band before noticing a fan in distress in the crowd.
He points to a floor section located near the front of the stage. He calmly flagged the situation to security over the mic.
Mars then asked for his band to 'slow [the music] down' as he continued to call out for security's help.
A frustrated Mars noticed members of the arena's security team standing idly along the front row and he encouraged them to take action.
'You guys are security, right? Get your a**es in the middle [of the floor], c'mon! Jump over the gate and help them out,' the hitmaker exclaimed.
The footage obtained by DailyMail.com showed several security guards in blue Intuit Dome shirts narrowing in on fifth row center. There also appeared to be a venue medic wearing a backpack in the vicinity.
Security swiftly cleared the row so they could get to a fan, who appeared to be suffering from some sort of medical emergency.
Mars did not resume the show until the fan was helped.
According to DailyMail.com's insider, the technical issues continued inside the arena as some of the elevators are said to have stopped running.
Mars will play a second show at the impressive new LA arena on Friday, August 16.
Those who did not fall victim to the ticketing debacle seemed to be the celebrities in attendance as they hit the red carpet and ribbon cutting ceremony.
Angela Bassett, Victoria Justice, Meghan Trainor, Sophia Bush, Kelsea Ballerini, and Chase Stocks were among the big names in attendance for the grand opening.
Described as both a 'basketball mecca' and 'basketball palazzo' by Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the new home of the LA Clippers boasts an array of distinguishing features, including power jacks at every seat and twice as many toilets as any other NBA arena.
There are five basketball courts between the main arena and the practice facility, as well as an 80,000-square foot outdoor plaza, two bars, a restaurant and a massive new team store.
Every detail — from the huge two-sided $100million halo video screen hovers over the court, to the triple-wide escalators, to bathrooms designed to get fans back in their seats as quickly as possible — has a purpose.
The halo includes 44,000 square feet of 4K LED lighting, slightly more than one full acre and roughly six times the average size of other 'big' screens in NBA buildings.
The roof of the dome was designed to accommodate the halo, not the other way around.
Naturally, parking, entry, and concessions are all automated with the help of new technologies, allowing for a hassle-free experience so fans can get to their seats with as little trouble as possible.
It was made with both music concerts and basketball games in mind.
The Clippers first broke ground on their new $2billion home back in September 2021.
Things the Clippers have seen in play at German soccer stadiums, other NBA buildings, NFL stadiums, even the Amazon Go checkout-free convenience stores all sparked various ideas that will be put into play at Intuit Dome.
'They've all led us here, to this vacant lot that we're about to transform to the singular best place for fans and players throughout the world,' Ballmer told The Associated Press in 2021.
To facilitate the deal, Ballmer paid $400 million for The Forum -- the former home of the Lakers -- to New York Knicks owner James Dolan, who was concerned that the Clippers' new arena would hurt the 55-year-old stadium's concert business. Dolan's Madison Square Garden acquired the Forum in 2012 for $23.5 million.
Before the Intuit Dome, the Clippers had been playing at Staples Center, also the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.
Ballmer — who originally didn't want to build an arena when he bought the team — wound up beginning to plot a Clippers-only home years ago and formally unveiled the project in 2019, saying then that the Clippers would break ground in 2021 and open in 2024.
'We don't want to play in anybody's shadow,' Ballmer said.